Despite being a man down for over half the game, Banbury staged a remarkable comeback to win 31-27 vs Newbury. Two tries from Man of the Match, Dan Tooth, as well as some incredible home support helped the Bulls to victory!

Newbury started the game far brighter than Banbury and the Bulls couldn’t argue the score line when the away side scored two early tries. James Macaulay first driving over from close range and then Rory Jones finishing off a good try following the restart. Two makeable conversions both went wide of the posts though. 0-10.

Dan Tooth got Banbury back into the game when he crossed for the Bulls. The big centre ran a lovely inside line before running through a Newbury defender and scoring under the posts. James Miller converted, 7-10.

Banbury were penalised for not releasing and Newbury kicked the easy three points to extend the lead to 7-13. After a frantic opening 20 minutes Banbury’s afternoon got a whole lot harder when Dan Brady was red carded for the home side. Brady tried to wriggle his way out of a ruck after making a tackle but as he did his boot made contact with the head of a Newbury player. The referee admitted it had been completely accidental but had no choice but to send off the Banbury winger.

Newbury immediately took advantage of the extra man. A rolling maul was stopped just short of the line but a phase later Dan Thorne scored under the posts following a lovely dummy. Thorne added the extras to leave it 7-20.

Toby Thorne was yellow carded for Newbury shortly before half-time after the Blues were repeatedly penalised for not rolling away.
With the sides level on numbers again Banbury scored a crucial try before the half-time whistle to narrow the lead before the interval. Dan Tooth crossing in the corner for his second score of the afternoon. James Miller added a huge conversion from the sideline to make it a one score game again, 14-20.

Dan Tooth nearly scored a third try of the afternoon but was stopped by a brilliant covering tackle. The backs switched play from one corner to the other though and Jack Briggs finished the move off out wide to the left of the posts. Conversion missed, 19-20.

Incredibly Banbury weren’t done though and took the lead when Jacob Turner crossed from close range. Ed Phillips pulled the defence left before a lovely inside pass behind him to Turner who couldn’t be stopped from 5m out. Conversion missed, 24-20.

Newbury fought back as the extra man started to count and they re-took the lead when Josh Winfield scored at the back of a 5m scrum. Converted, 24-27.

Roared on by an incredible crowd though the Bulls dragged everything they had left to retake the lead with only minutes remaining. James Miller and Dan Tooth both threw two brilliant passes in quick succession to play in Quinten Blythe down the right wing. Blythe still had plenty to do but a half dummy was enough to find his way through a small gap in the Newbury defence before scoring in the corner. Ed Phillips conversion crucially bounced off the post and through to leave it 31-27 with barely five minutes left on the clock.

Tom Burman was yellow carded on the restart for a tip tackle to leave Banbury with only 13 men for the final stages. Newbury threw everything at the Banbury line. Chance after chance was denied by the Banbury defence though. The Newbury scrum had an edge on Banbury all afternoon but deep in to added time the away side were penalised for not driving straight in the scrum and Bodicote Park erupted with joy as the Bulls knew they’d secured victory. Ed Phillips kicked the ball out and the full-time whistle followed immediately after.

An incredible game, Banbury showed true grit and character to pull off one of the most remarkable victories at Bodicote Park in recent years. The Banbury crowd were exceptional all afternoon and the celebrations between players and supporters at full-time are memories that will last long into the future. Dan Tooth was selected as Banbury’s man of the match. A true captain’s performance, Toothy led from the front in attack and defence. Even without the two tries there was only one choice for man of the match.

Match Stats:
Tries: Dan Tooth (2) Jack Briggs, Jacob Turner and Quinten Blythe.
Conversions: James Miller (2) Ed Phillips (1)

Speaking to Matt Goode after the game:

31-27, absolutely mental game, how do you feel about that game? How are the emotions?
“I think I went through every emotion that game. Elated for the boys. To dig in with only thirteen players on the pitch at the end was unbelievable. We wanted character, we wanted to see what these boys had in their locker. Today showed they’ve got that grit and the character needed to play at the top level.”

After two early tries and a red card after 25 minutes were you thinking that was it for Banbury?
“The two early tries were down to us starting slowly and not getting the kick off right. One we sorted the defence out we were much better. Once we got a couple tries, I knew we were going to be in a game. The character showed from going 0-10 down and after the red card was outstanding. Brady’s red card was unfortunate. There wasn’t anything malicious about it, it’s just an accident. After that though the boys dug in really well. The score just before half-time was huge. We got the boys in and regrouped for the second half.”

Dan Tooth was man of the match today. He’s a Banbury lad, he knows what it means to play for this club. He was exceptional today wasn’t he?
“Big games for big players, he was outstanding. So many of the boys deserved to be man of the match today. But toothy was unbelievable. He wears that badge with pride. We want all the boys to wear that badge with pride. You can see how much it means to everyone, brilliant performance.”

We asked the crowd to come up and make it noisy, we asked them to make the difference. They certainly did that today didn’t they? Those scenes at full-time will live on long into the future won’t they?
“They were amazing. There were so many minis and juniors here who said they’ve been inspired by that. To witness a thing of beauty like that. I thought the crowd were exceptional. We said we wanted them to be our 16th man for over 50 minutes they were our 15th and 16th. They kept the team going the whole time. They got behind them. You could hear them all game and then everything at the end, the celebrations, the sheer joy, unbelievable.

Finally, Marlborough away next week. Always a tough place to go to. What are you going to need to bring to that game?
“We’ve got to build on this victory. Keep improving each week. If we stick to our patterns and play our game, we’re very good. If we worry too much about other teams, we can struggle. We’ll talk on Tuesday, come up with our gameplan. We know they’re a strong outfit, but we know what we’ve got to do to win.”